In January 2015, the Chancery Division of the High Court considered the duty of care owed by prestigious and leading auction houses in the case of Thwaytes v Sotherby’s.

Historically courts have taken a robust approach to protecting gifts contained in wills for the benefit of a charity. A number of recent cases suggest a change of approach towards charities. A notable case, which reflects these changing attitudes is the case of Gill and Woodall [2010].

In recent years the number of disappointed children contesting their parent’s Will has substantially increased.

When someone dies, most people want the stresses of dealing with financial and administrative matters to be taken away by someone who is expert in how these processes work.

Recent case law has increasingly found in favour of validity, particularly where the will has been professionally prepared. The courts’ view appears to be that experienced solicitors would not prepare a will for a person if they feel they did not have capacity or were concerned about their understanding of the same.

In order to apply for probate, executors have to provide HMRC with details of all assets and liabilities (including joint assets) and any gifts made by the deceased during the seven years prior to death.

As 2020 passed the baton to 2021, any optimism we may have been harbouring about a gradual return to normality, as the vaccination programme began its rollout, was badly dented by another lockdown and the inevitable economic disruption that entails.

When shareholder disputes lead to actions to oust investors or wrestle control from individuals, appealing to court for an unfair prejudice remedy may be the only route available to those adversely affected.

There are several well-established grounds for challenging the validity of a Will, undue influence being one. It is no secret that in order to succeed in an undue influence claim there is a heavy evidential burden but the recent case of Jones & Others v Jones is an example of a successful claim against the validity of the Will under the grounds of undue influence.

2020 has been a year like no other and undoubtedly the major change in this area of law has been the amendment to the Wills Act 1837 which had been unchanged legislation for approaching 200 years.